Method for manufacturing corrugated angle members

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing corrugated angle members. These members are made of heavy paper, for example, and serve as protective reinforcements in relatively large packages containing appliances and the like, so that the corrugated angle members by engaging the appliances within the container of the package will protect the appliances against damage. A plurality of corrugated plies are glued to each other while being longitudinally angled to a gradually increasing extent by a forming means which provides the glued-together corrugated plies with a preselected angular cross section. Then the angled corrugated structure is dried while conveyed by a conveyer means through a heat tunnel. Thereafter, the corrugated structure is cut by a cutting means to preselected lengths.

United States Patent 1191 Gilbert et al.

[ Jan. 8, 1974 [54] METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING 2,764,219 9/1956 lorsell 156 461 CORRUGATED ANGLE MEMBERS 1,490,772 4/1924 Gunn 72/l8l X 3,566,728 3/1971 Ohmasu 83/80 Inventors! J Gilbert; Stanley Franklyn, 2,896,833 1/1959 Markham 229/14 c both of Clifton, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Container Company of New York, Primary Examiner""Alfred Leavitt lrvington, Ni Assistant ExaminerDavid A. Simmons Att0rneyBlum, Moscovitz, Friedman & Kaplan [22] Filed: Dec.2, 1970 [2]] Appl. No.: 94,327 [57] ABSTRACT Related U.S. Application D t A method for'manufacturing corrugated angle mem- [62] Division of Ser. No. 782,209, Dec. 9, 1968, Pat. N0. berg These members are made of heavy Paper for 3652'367' ample, and serve as protective reinforcements in relatively large packages containing appliances and the 52 us. 01 156/200, 156/201, 156/204, like, SO that, the wrwgated angle members by engag- 5 2 7 5 227 5 50 156/269 [56/324 ing the appliances within the container of the package 51 Int. Cl B3lf 7/00 will Promt the appliances against damage A plurality [52 Field 61 Search 156/207, 243, 164, of Corrugated Plies are glued to each other while being 5 19 1 2 0 0 2 7 g 5 461, longitudinally angled to a gradually increasing extent 3 7 9 3 2 7 by a forming means which provides the glued-together 229/14 C corrugated plies with a preselecte-d'angular cross section. Then the angled corrugated structure is dried 5 R f n Cited while conveyed by a conveyer means through a heat UNITED STATES PATENTS tunnel. Thereafter, the corrugated structure is cut by a 1 cutting means to preselected lengthsi 1,909,5l3 5/l933 Agar 156/200 l,8l5,887 7/l93l Agar l56/46l X '4 (Jaime? Drewit eEi wa i mmnmm 8mm 3,784,430 sum 10F 7 Wil l hl -WHHHHHHHH Pmmmm man 3,784,430

sum am 1 ATTORNEYS PAIENTED M 8 I974 SHEET t (If 7 IN TORS ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJAH 8 I974 3. 784,430 SHEET 6 OF 7 ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJAH 8 ISM 3,784,430

sum vor 1 HHHHH] ATTORNEYS 1 METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING CORRUGATED ANGLE MEMBERS This is a division of application Ser. No. 782,209, filed Dec. 9, 1968, now US. Pat. No. 3,652,367.

BACKGROUND OF THE INvENTioN The present invention relates to corrugated angle members made of heavy paper or the like and serving as a protective reinforcement in a package to protect an article in the package against damage.

Protective reinforcements of this latter type are well known as exemplified by US. Pat..No. 1,613,152.

However, the method and apparatus used to manufacture such corrugated reinforcements leave much to be desired. For the most part, most of the operations required in connection with the manufacture of this product are carried out manually on separate machines. Thus, a glue-applying machine is used to apply glue to the plies. Then after the plies are glued to each other they are given their angular cross section on an entirely separate machine manipulated by another operator. Before these operations are performed the individual corrugated plies are cut to the desired length and creased or scored along the longitudinal center lines. These operations are also carried out in connection with a backing liner which is bent to form an angle of 90, for example. The series of plies are glued together in superposed relation by being hand fed to the handoperated angle laminating machine. The laminated angle which is formed in this way is then cut by a circular saw to the final desired length. In the case where angle mitering is required, the unit is delivered to a power press which performs the angle. mitering. Such angle mitering is utilized where the strip is to be bent longitudinally to form a 90 comer. The liner has an exposed face which may be waxed, if desired, to form a non-abrasive facing for the article which is to be protectively packaged.

Although attempts have already been madeto improve the latter conditions, up to the present time there has been no satisfactory solution to the problem of providing corrugated angle members of the above type in a simple inexpensive manner requiring a minimum amount of labor. All of the known attempts to solve this problem involve extremely long and complicated machines having complex scoring assemblies as well as highly undesirable angling and-drying assemblies. For example, in most known machines the product is required to frictionally slide against a stationary surface, which is highly undesirable not only from the standpoint of excessive power consumption but also from the standpoint of excessive injury to the product. In addition, undesirable complications are encountered in connection with the cutting of the angled corrugated structure into the required lengths.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a method which will avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the invention toprovide a method capable of providing corrugated angle members of predetermined length in a fully continuous manner from the initial plies which are unwound from suitable supply rolls.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a method which will efficiently maintain the work continuously progressing through the machine without undesirable stressing of the work or of the machine components while at the same time avoiding any frictional rubbing of the work against stationary surfaces with respect to which it slides.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide for a machine of the above type a forming method capable of giving the corrugated structure the required angular cross section without necessitating initial scoring of the individual plies and without subjecting the work material to excessive stress.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method according to which cutting of the corru' gated material takes place without any relative movement between the cutting structure and the corrugated work material.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a construction of this type which is capable of forming miter notches in the work material.

Also, the objects of the present invention includes the provision of a method which lends itself to provid ing corrugated angle members of various selected thicknesses and lengths, with or without a preselected number of miter notches situated at predetermined locations along the angle members.

According to the invention, a plurality of corrugated plies are glued to each other in superposed relation and longitudinally angled to a gradually increasing extent, before the glue sets and dries, by a forming means of the invention. A drying means receives the angled structure from the forming means and it dries and sets the glue while maintaining the angled configuration of the corrugated structure. Then the corrugated structure issuing from the drying means is cut to preselected lengths by a cutting means which includes a carriage movable with the corrugated structure and carrying a cutting assembly which cuts across the corrugated structure while moving together therewith.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION'OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic side elevation of the entire installation of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic side elevation of the structure adjacent the rear end of the drying tunnel as seen from the side opposite that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation taken along line 33 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing, on an enlarged scale, as compared to FIG. 1, a structure for scoring a backing liner;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation of a gluing means, taken along the line 44 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing the structure at a scale which is enlarged as compared to FIG. 1;

FIG. Sis a sectional elevation of the structure of FIG. 4 taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a sectional plan view of the structure of FIG. 5 taken along line6--6 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of the manner in which glue is received by a corrugated ply;

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional elevation taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and the line 9-9 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing, on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 1, the coacting pair of forming roles subsequent to those of FIG. 8;

FIG. 9a is a sectional elevation of the structure of FIG. 9 taken along line 9a9a of FIG. 9 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 10 shows the next pair of forming rolls, subsequent to those of FIG. 9, FIG. 10 being taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing the structure on a scale which is enlarged as compared to FIG. 1;

FIG. 10a is a sectional elevation of the rolls of FIG. 10 taken along line 10a-10a of FIG. 10 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 11 is a transverse sectional elevation taken along line 11-11 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing, on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 1, the final coacting pair of forming rollers of the forming means;

FIG. 11a is a sectional elevation taken along line Ila-11a of FIG. 11 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary cross sectional illustration of the longitudinally angled corrugated structure;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevation taken. along line 13-13 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing, on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 1, a conveyor means at the entrance end of a drying tunnel;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary partly sectional side elevation of the structure of FIG. 13 taken along line 14-14 of FIG. 13 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 15 is a schematic fragmentary plan view taken along 15-15 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing an adjustable cam and switch assembly and the drive for controlling the latter, the scale of FIG. 15 also being enlarged as compared to FIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a transverse sectional elevation taken along line 16-16 of FIG. 15 in the direction of the arrows; and showing on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 1, the cutting means for cutting the corrugated structure to a given length;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary side elevation of the structure of FIG. 16 as seen from the left side thereof at that region of the cutting means which receives the corrugated structure from the drying means;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional elevation of the cutting means taken along line 18-18 of FIG. 16 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 19 is a transverse sectional elevation taken along line 19-19 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing, on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 1, a miter means;

FIG. 20 shows the structure of FIG. 19 in a position different from FIG. 19 just after a miter notch has been cut;

FIG. 21 is a sectional plan view taken along line 21-21 of FIG. 19 in the direction of the arrows and showing further details of the miter means;

FIG. 22 is a sectional plan view taken along line 22-22 of FIG. 20 in the direction of the arrows and showing the shape of the miter-cutting block;

FIG. 23 is a fragmentary illustration of a part of the corrugated structure which has been formed with a miter notch; and

FIG. 24 illustrates a given length of the corrugated structure provided with a pair of miter notches.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT General Layout Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that four corrugated plies A, B, C, and D are assembled together in illustrated example to form the corrugated structure. These corrugated plies are each in the form of a sheet of relatively heavy paper having a corrugated layer of paper joined thereto to form therewith a corrugated ply. This construction is fragmentarily illustrated in the circles just to the right of the superposed guide rollers 26 schematically indicated in FIG. 1 as receiving the several plies and guiding them from supply rolls 28 to the gluing means 30 which forms part of the invention. However, in the particular example illustrated in the A is directed, from its supply roll 28 through a means 32 for applying a wax coating to a surface of the ply A which will be exposed in the final product and which will engage the article which is to be protected, so that in this way this article will come in contact only with a non-abrasive layer of wax. It is to be noted that as the several plies approach the gluing means 30, the corrugated layers thereof are directed downwardly, whereas the ply A, as it approaches the wax coating means 32 has its corrugated layer directed upwardly.

A backing liner strip E, also of a suitable heavy paper, is derived from a supply roll 34 and directed through a scoring means 36 before reaching the guide rolls 40a and 40b situated at the lower part of the gluing means 30. These rolls 40a and 40b serve to guide the liner E without applying glue thereto, to the several plies A-D which have had glue applied thereto.

All of the plies A-D and the liner E are combined together in superposed relation so that the applied glue will adhere them to each other and this action takes place at the entrance end of a forming means 42 which receives the components A-E directly from the gluing means 30 and which gradually angles the corrugated plies longitudinally, before the glue has dried and set, so as to achieve in this way the predetermined cross sectional angular configuration of the corrugated structure.

From the forming means 42, the longitudinally angled corrugated structure 44 is conveyed through a drying means 48 which includes an elongated heating tunnel 50 in which heat is derived from any suitable source such as quartz lamps, for example. The corrugated structure 44 is transported through the heating tunnel 50 by a conveyer means 52 of the drying means 48.

The corrugated structure 44 issues with the glue thereof dried and set from the drying means 48 and is delivered by the conveyer means 52 directly to a cutting means 54 which serves to cut the corrugated struc ture 44 into lengths 56 of predetermined magnitude. One or more miter means 58 are associated with the cutting means 54 in order to provide miter notches as required.

As is apparent from FIGS. land 2, a drive means 60 is provided for driving the components of the installation of the invention, and this drive means 60 is the only drive of the entire installation. The drive is trans- V mitted directly to the conveyer means 52 which serves to transport the corrugated plies throughout the entire installation, so that all of the rollers of all of the components in advance of the conveyer means 52 are idler rollers.

Ply-Feed and Gluer molten wax. The wax is maintained through any heating means at a temperature sufficiently elevated to provide the liquid condition of the wax. The opposed walls of the container 62 support for rotary movement a waxapplying roller 66 which rotates simply by frictional engagement with the ply A which is guided around rollers 68 supported for rotary movement by suitable brackets carried by another pair of opposed walls of the container 62. In this way, since the lowermost portions of roller 68 are somewhat lower than the uppermost portion of roller 66, the ply A is guided into engagement and in part around the roller 66 which rotates to bring a layer of wax up fromthe reservoir and deposit it on that surface of the ply A which will be located at the exterior of the finished corrugated structureaFrom the rollers 68,.the ply A is guided around a roller 70 so as to reach the uppermost one of the rollers 26 which direct the several plies AD to the gluer 30.

At the same time, as was pointed out above, the

backing liner E is derived from the supply roll 34 and guided through a scoring means 36 before reaching the rollers 40a and 40b at the lowerpart of the gluer 30. Just before and just after the scoring means 36 the liner strip E is guided by rollers 72 and 74, respectively.

The details of the scoringmeans 36 are illustrated in FIG. 3. This scoring means includes a suitable stationary bracket 76 supporting for free rotary movement and upper shaft 80 which fixedly carries a scoring disc 82 having a relatively sharp edge which is received partly within a scoring groove 84 which is formed in a lower roll 86 als 0 supported for free rotary movement by the bracket 76. This lower scoring roll'86 has a pair of end flanges 88 between which the liner E is situated so as to be guided thereby during thescoring provided by the coaction of the scoring disc 82 andthe groove 84 of the roller 86. In this way, the liner E will be longitudinally scored along its central median line. i

i As is apparent from FIGS. 4and 5, a pair of channels 90 form the lowermost portion of t the glue-applying means 30, and these channels 90 support for free rotary movement the guide roller 40a which, as. is apparent from FIG. 4, also has a pair of guiding end flanges similar. to the flanges 88 and serving to guide the linerE in the manner showing most clearlyat the lower portion of FIG. 4. The guide roller 40b is substantially identical with the roller 40a, andth e strip E goes over the roller 40a and under the roller40b before reaching the font!- ing means 42. I l

. The glue-applying means 30' includes upstanding frame members 92 afiixed to and extending upwardly fromthe channels 90and fixedly interconnected by charging the next lower container.

means of angle brackets 94 located at the several eleva- .tions indicated in FIGS. 4and 5. These angle members 94serve to support glue-containing baths or reservoirs 96 each of which is provided with a pipe 98 forming an outletfor the glue from one bath 96 to the next lower bath 96. It will be .noted from FIG. 4 that the outlet pipes 98 are successively situated at opposed ends of the successive tanks; or baths 96, so that the liquid glue will flow across one container, out through the outlet pipe 98 the'reof into the next lower container, then across the latter in the opposite direction before dis- F rom the lowermost container 96 the glue is delivered by a pipe 100 to the inlet of a pump 102 driven in any suitable way and serving to pump the glue along the supply conduit 104 up to a collecting tank 106 in which a reservoir of glue is maintained. From this tank 106 the glue is discharged through a pipe 108, at a rate coni trolled by a valve 1 10, into the uppermost container 96.

Each of the containers 96 supports for free rotary movement a pair of upper rollers 112 beneath which the corrugated plypasses, and between these upper rollers there is a glue-applying roll 114 which dips into the bath of glue and during rotary movement, resulting from longitudinal movement of the corrugated ply, delivers glue to the crests of the corrugations. This is apparent from FIG. 5 as well as FIG- 7 which shows, for example, the ply A having the layer of glue 1 16 situated at the crests of the corrugations thereof.

With this gluer 30 of the invention, there is a minimum loss of glue withthe most efficient application thereof to thecrests of the corrugations. It is to be noted that the upper surface of theply A, as viewed in FIG. 5, has the layer of wax applied thereto.

Forming Unit.

The several plies AD, with the glue thus applied thereto, togetherwith the backing liner B, will be received directly by the forming means 42 from the girling means 30.

The forming means42 includes any suitable standards l18shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 and carrying a baseplate on which a series of pairs of coacting forming rolls are mounted on vertical supports 122. Thus, referring to FIGS. 8 and'8a", it will be seen that the vertical supports 122, which are fixedtoand extend upwardly from the base plate 120 serve to slidably guide for vertical movement blocks 1'24 and 126. These blocks are formedat their vertical end walls with longitudinal grooves which slidablyreceive the surfaces of the supports 122 whichare directed toward each other,

so that in this way the blocks l24and 126 are guided for movement vertically along the supports 122. The lower blocks l26are stationary and supportfor rotary movement a cylindrical roller 128. The upper blocks 124 support for free rotary movement acylindrical roller 130. The several plies A-D together with the liner i E are received between the cylindricalfrollers 128 and 130 which thus serve to press the plies against each other in superposed relation, so that the glue 116 at the crest of the corrugations will start'to, adhere the plies to each other. I

The pair of members 122 at each side of the base plate 120 carry at their top ends a horizontalangle member 132 which extends longitudinally in the direction of the movement of the plies, and these angle members. 132 are interconnected by acrossrod 134.

The horizontal webs of the angle members 132 have threaded openings through which adjusting bolts 136 are threaded, and these bolts carry lock nuts 138. The bolts 136 extend freely through openings at the top ends of the blocks 124 and have lower ends of enlarged diameter received in slots 140 formed in the blocks 124, respectively. Thus, the blocks 124 are constrained to move up and down with the bolts 136 due to the enlarged ends 140 thereof, and by turning the bolts it possible to adjust the elevation of the blocks 124 and thus of the upper roller 130. In the adjusted position the lock nuts 138 can be tightened. The distance between the rollers 128 and 130 will be adjusted in accordance with the thickness of the corrugated structure, and this latter fact will be determined by the number of plies selected to be included in the corrugated structure.

Thus, as may be seen particularly from FIG. 8a, the plies are pressed together so that they will adhere to each other with the backing liner E situated at the bottom of the series of superposed plies, and by the adjustment of the elevation of the roller 130, the required pressure which should not be excessive, is applied to the series of plies so as to press them into engagement with each other as they travel longitudinally to the right, as viewed in FIG. 8a.

In this way, the work will reach the pair of coacting rollers 142 and 144. Except for the structure of the rollers themselves, this assembly is identical with that of FIGS. 8 and 8a. The roller 142 is a female roller in the sense that it is formed with a V-groove, while the roller 144 is a male roller and has a periphery of V-shape cross section matching the cross section of the groove of roller 142. It will be noted that the change from the pair of coacting rollers 128, 130 to the rollers 142, 144 is relatively slight, so that the plies are easily angled to the cross sectional configuration indicated in FIG. 9. As may be seen from FIG. 9a, the corrugated structure will have side webs extending upwardly from the central region between the side webs, and .in this case also it is possible to adjust the elevation of upper roller 144 with respect to lower roller 142 in accordance with the thickness of the assembled plies.

FIGS. 10 and 10a show the pair of coacting forming rollers subsequent to those of FIGS. 9 and 90. These rollers 146 and 148 are identical with the rollers 142 and 144 except that they have a sharper angle providing a greater degree of angling of the corrugated structure, so that it is gradually angled from the flat condition shown in FIG. 8 into the angled condition shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 10a illustrates how the corrugated structure, as it travels between the male and female rollers 148 and 146, respectively, is angled to a greater degree so that its webs extend upwardly to an increasing extent from the central portion of the corrugated structure.

In the illustrated example of a forming means 42 of the invention there is one final pair of coacting forming rollers 150 and 152, identical with the preceding pair 146 and 148 except that the rollers 150 and 152 have an even sharper angle which in the illustrated example is 90. Thus, as is apparent from FIG. 11a, the webs of the corrugated angle extend upwardly from the central portion to a degree greater than that illustrated in FIG. 10a.

Thus, for each pair of coacting forming rollers, it is possible to adjust the elevation of the upper roller with respect to the lower roller in accordance with the thickness of the work material, and in accordance with the invention, before the glue has dried and set, the plies are gradually angled longitudinally to an increasing degree so that as the plies travel from one pair of forming rollers to the next, they are progressively angled longitudinally until they are provided with the final, preselected angular cross section which in the example illustrated in FIG. 12 is a cross section of In this way the angled corrugated structure 44 shown in FIG. 12 is achieved. This structure has the several plies A-D, arranged as indicated in FIG. 12, with the backing liner E situated as shown in FIG. 12. The top surface of the ply A, as viewed in FIG. 12, has the coating of wax.

Drying Unit As has been pointed out above, the drying means 48 receives the corrugated structure 44 directly from the forming means 42. This drying means 48 includes the elongated heating tunnel 50 which has in its interior quartz lamps, for example, connected with any suitable source of current so as to provide the required heat within the tunnel 50'. The tunnel 50 has opposed open entrance and discharged ends, and the length of the tunnel is sufficiently great to enable the required drying and setting of the glue to be achieved within the tunnel.

In order to transport the corrugated structure 44 through the heating tunnel 50, the drying means 48 includes in addition to the tunnel 50 a conveyer means 52 which extends beyond the ends of the tunnel 50 and longitudinally through the latter.

As is shown most clearly in FIGS. 13 and 14, the conveyer means 52 includes a lower endless assembly 154 made up of endless sprocket chains 156. The side walls 158 of the tunnel 50 fixedly carry between themselves a channel member 160 which extends longitudinally through the tunnel and which supports the upper runs of the coextensive endless chains 156 for movement along a horizontal path. The chains 156 are guided around front sprocket wheels 162 and rear sprocket wheels 164 carried by shafts which in turn are supported for rotary movement by horizontally extending beams 166 fixed to and projecting from suitable standards situated at the region of the ends of the heating tunnel 50. The several links of the chains are affixed with transverse members 168 which serve to interconnect the coextensive chains 156 and these transverse members 168 fixed at their central regions to the V- cleats 170 which thus move along the channel 160 while supporting the corrugated structure 44.

The conveyer means 52 includes the upper endless assembly 172 in the form of a single sprocket chain the links of which carry brackets 174 which in turn fixedly carry V-shaped pressure member 176, and these members 176 press against the structure 44 so that the latter is compressed between pressure members 176 of the upper conveyer assembly and cleats 170 of the lower conveyer assembly while being transported through the heating tunnel 50. The angle defined by the cleats 170 and pressure member 176 is 90 so as to conform to the angled cross section of the structure 44.

The upper and lower runs of the endless assembly 172 move along longitudinally extending horizontal channel members 178 and 180. These channel members are fixed to vertically extending channel members 182 and 184, the pairs of opposed channel members 182 and 184 being situated at regular spaced intervals along the longitudinally extending horizontal channel members 178 and 180. The front pair of vertical members 182 and 184 fixedly carry the forwardly extending beams 186 and 188 which support for rotary movement the sprocket wheels 190 and 192 around which the front end of the endless chain 172 is guided. In the same way the rear pair of members 182 and 184 fixedly support rearwardly extending beams which support the rear sprockets for free rotary movement.

Beyond the front and rear ends of the tunnel 50, and at suitable locations spaced therealong, where the walls 158 are formed with vertical slots, there are transversely extending channel members 196 which extend beneath and engage the upper channel member 178. Thischannel member 178 rests on the several transverse members 196, so that the entire framework formed of vertical members 182 and 184 and horizontal members 178 and 180 is supported on the several transverse members 196. All of these members have their horizontal webs formed with aligned openings through which stationary guide rods 198 extend. These guide rods 198 are threaded at their bottom ends into suitable supports such as blocks 200 carried by the side walls 158 at the exterior thereof or standards 202 situated beyond the rear end of the tunnel 50. The several guide rods 198 are surrounded by coil springs 204, respectively, and these springs are compressed by the transverse members 196 and the weight of the conveyer assembly carried thereby. In this way the upper conveyer assembly 172 is floatingly supported for yieldable vertical movement, so that it will not press with its entire weight against the structure 44.- The springs 204 are carefully chosen so that the proper pressure will be applied to the structure 44. On the other hand, if the structure 44 is thinner than shown in FIG. 13, the upper conveyer assembly 172 will simply lower itself to an elevation lower than that shown in FIG. 13, applying in this way a lesserpressure to the thinner corrugated structure which requires a lesser pressure, with the springs 204 being compressed to a greater degree so as to assume a greater part of the weight. On the other hand, if the corrugated structure 44 is thicker, then a greater part of the weight of the upper endless conveyor assembly 172 will be applied to the thicker structure, as is required, and less of the weight will be supported by the springs 204. I

In this way, this upper floating endless assembly 172 automatically adapts itself to the thickness of the corrugated structure without any adjustments being required for this purpose, and the entire upper endless assembly 172 can freely move vertically to adapt itself to the work material.

As was indicated above, a single drive means 60 is provided for the entire installation; This drive means 60 includes a single electric driving motor 206 driven from any suitable source of current and driving a sprocket chain 208 which in turn drives the sprocket 210 supported for rotary movement on a shaft carried by bearings fastened to standards of the machine as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Coaxial with the sprocket 210 is a smaller sprocket 212 which drives an endless sprocket chain 214 which in turn rotates the sprocket wheel 216 shown in FIG. 2. It is this sprocket wheel 216 which is fixed to the shaft which carries the rear sprocket 164 of the lower endless assembly of the conveyer means,

' so that in this way the sprocket l64 is driven from the motor 60.

As a result of the drive transmitted in this way to the sprocket 164, or more precisely to the pair of sprockets 164 which respectively coact with the coextensive chains 156, the lower conveyer assembly 154 is driven. Through friction transmitted through the corrugated structure 44 to the upper endless assembly 172, this upper endless assembly is driven in unison with the lower endless assembly 154, so that the corrugated structure 44 is transported without any frictional rubbing of the cleats or pressure members with respect to the structure 44.

Furthermore, the drive of the conveyer means 52 serves to draw the structure 44 into the tunnel 50 from the forming means 42 all of whose forming rollers are simply idler rollers turning as a result of the pulling of the work between these rollers by the drive transmitted to the conveyer means 52. In the same way, this pulling of the plies through the forming means 44 serves to pull the plies through the gluing means 30 and from the supply rolls 28, the backing liner E being pulled in the same way solely from the single drive of the motor 206.

Cut-Off Unit In this way, the corrugated structure 44 will be delivered by the conveyer means 52 to the cutting means 54 with the glue dried and set so that the structure 44 now is quite rigid and has the angled configuration shown in FIG. 12.

The cutting means includes the standards 218 which fixedly support the base plate 220 in the form of a channel, as indicated in FIG. 16. The base plate 220 carries at its ends suitable brackets which support a pair of horizontal parallel guide bars 222 of circulat cross section. These stationary guide bars extend slidably through sleeves 224 fixed to the lower end regions of vertical plates 226 interconnected by a top horizontal plate 228, so that this assembly of plates forms a carriage slidable along the guide bars 222 longitudinally of the corrugated structure 44. Additional standards 230 are fixed to and extend upwardly from the base plate 220 and carry an upper vertical wall 232. This wall carries at its forward end a pin 234 onto which one end of a tension spring 236 is hooked,- the other end of this spring being hooked onto an angle: member 238 which is fixed to the upper surface of the top wall 228. In this way a spring means 236 is provided for yieldably hold-- ing the carriage 226, 228 in engagement with a stop member 240 fixed to the top of a plate 220, and thus the initial position of the cutting means 54 is determined.

The plates 226 are formed with openings 242 passing there through, and the corrugated structure 44 is fed freely through these openings 242. The lower parts of the openings 242 are of V-shaped configuration and support a V-shaped guide channel 241 which extends through the opening of left plate 226 into the opening of right plate 226 of FIG. 17 and which has at its left end a downwardly curved entrance region, as viewed in FIG. 17. In this way, the structure 44 will be directly guided onto channel 241 from the drying means 48.

The right plate 226 of FIG. 17 carries at its right or rear surface a stationary cutting blade 243 (FIG. 16) and a vertically movable cutting blade 244. The vertical blade is guided for movement by lateral guide members 246 carried by the rear plate 226 in the manner shown in FIG. 16. The top end of the movable blade 244 is connected with the piston rod 248 of a piston slidable in a cylinder 250 of a fluid-pressure means which may, for example, be pneumatic and which when actuated will lower the blade 244 to move across the stationary blade 242 and thus cut through the corrugated structure 44.

The rear plate 226 also fixedly carries a suitable bar 252 which serves to fixedly support a plate 256 which in turn carries a second fluid-pressure means 258 which may also be pneumatic. The piston of the pneumatic means 258 carries a pin 260 capable of being displaced downwardly into engagement with and upwardly out of engagement with an endless sprocket chain 262. This sprocket chain 262 is guided on sprocket wheels 264 which are in turn supported by shafts 266 joumalled in bearings carried by straps 268 which extend across and are carried by the side walls of the channels which form the base plate 220, this construction being shown most clearly at the lower part of FIG. 16. As is shown most clearly in FIG. 2, a sprocket wheel identical with and situated behind the sprocket wheel 216 guides a sprocket chain 269 which extends around a driving sprocket 272 fixed to the front shaft which carries the front sprocket 264, so that in this way the endless chain 262 is driven as long as the motor 206 is energized. The transmission ratio to the endless chain 262 is such that the chain 262 moves linearly at the same speed as the corrugated structure 44.

The pin 260 is situated directly over the upper run of the chain 262 at the region of the front sprocket 264, so that when air under pressure is delivered to the fluidpressure means 258, the pin 260 will be lowered to enter between the links of the chain 262, thus causing the carriage 226, 228 to be advanced rearwardly in opposition to the spring 236, and the pin 260 shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 17 in its lower operative position connected with the upper run of the chain 262 with the entire carriage advanced to the rear from its starting position engaging the stop 240. In this way, by actuating the fluid-pressure means 250 simultaneously with the fluid-pressure means 258, the cutting assembly 244 will be actuated while moving together with the corrugated structure 44 at the same speed as the latter.

This action is most clearly illustrated in FIG. 18 which shows in dot-dash lines the bottom end position of the blade 244. FIG. 18 also shows how the top end of the blade 244 is connected with the lower end of the piston rod 248, and in addition the manner in which the channel 244 extends through the openings 242 is clearly illustrated.

As was indicated above, the pair of fluid-pressure means 250 and 258 are actuated substantially simultaneously. For this purpose a cam-actuated switch structure is provided, as shown most clearly in FIG. 15.

Referring first to FIG. 1, it will be seen that coaxially fixed to the rear lower sprocket 164 for rotary movement therewith is a smaller sprocket 270 which transmits the drive to an endless chain 272, which as shown schematically in FIG. 15, drives a sprocket 274 supported for rotary movement by a bracket 276 carried on a support plate 278 which in turn is supported by a bracket 280. This support plate 278 carries a manually adjustable gear transmission 282. This transmission is driven by an input sprocket 284 which is driven from a chain 286 in turn driven from a sprocket 288 coaxially fixed to the sprocket 274 for rotary movement therewith. In this way the drive is taken from the motor 206 to the adjustable transmission 282 which has an output shaft 290.

The shaft 290 fixedly carries a cam disc 292 provided with a cam lobe 294 fixed thereto for rotation therewith, and by adjusting the transmission 282 it is possible to determine the time required for one revolution of the cam 294. This cam will, during its rotary movement, actuate a microswitch 296 also carried by the support plate 278. This microswitch 296 is connected in a known way to a valve such as a solenoid valve which controls the discharge of compressed air from a suitable tank, so that upon actuation of the switch 296 this valve will be opened. The valve closes as soon as the cam 294 moves beyond the switch 296 so that the latter opens, a suitable spring closing this valve. The valve controls the transmission of compressed air through suitable flexible pipes to the cylinders of the fluid-pressure assemblies 250 and 258 which may, for example, have interior springs urging the pistons to their upper rest positions. The pulse of air is transmitted into the cylinders of these assemblies at the upper ends of the pistons to drive the pistons downwardly. As a result the pin 260 engages the chain 262 and the blade 244 cuts across the structure 44, with this cutting taking place while the carriage 226, 228 moves with the work 44 at the same speed as the latter, and immediately after the cutting action the springs return the pistons to their upperpositions, and the spring 236 then returns the carriage to its initial position.

In this simple way it is possible with the structure of the invention to achieve movement of the cutting means simultaneously with the work during the cutting thereof. Of course, the variable speed transmission 282 and the angular position of the cam disc 292 will determine the instant when the cutting takes place, so that through suitable adjustments of these components the continuously moving structure 44 can be cut into predetermined lengths 56 which upon leaving the installation of the invention can be stacked at any suitable location.

Thus, the single drive means 60 also serves to drive the control structure which determines the instants when the cutting means will be actuated to cut through the corrugated structure 44.

As was indicated above, the upper conveyer assembly 172 of the conveyer means 52 can be driven by frictional engagement with the work from the lower conveyor assembly which is directly driven from the motor 60. However, as is indicated in FIG. 2, it is also possible to transmit the drive to the upper assembly so as to provide a positive drive therefor. For this purpose the sprocket 164 which drives the lower endless assembly of the conveyer means 52 is coaxially fixed with a sprocket which drives an endless chain 298 guided over sprocket wheels 300 supported for rotary movement by suitable parts of the framework, and this sprocket chain 298 will thus be guided around a sprocket 302 fixed to the rear shaft which carries the rear sprocket for the upper endless assembly 172, and in this way the upper endless assembly can be driven in unison with the lower endless assembly of the conveyer means 52.

Miter Units Referring to FIG. 24, one of the preselected lengths 56 of the corrugated structure 44 is illustrated. In the case where this length 56 will extend only along a straight line, at a corner region of a container, for example, then the webs of the corrugated angle member 56 will be uninterrupted. However, it may be desired to provide a continuous corrugated angle member 56 which can be bent at a right angle where the bottom wall joins the vertical walls of a container, for example, and for this purpose one of the webs of the reinforcing member 56 is formed with one or more miter notches 304. As a result of the presence of these notches 304 it is possible to give the length 56 a 90 bend along the lines 306, thus providing a continuous reinforcement which can move along a bottom wall as well as upwardly along vertical walls of a container in the interior thereof. The fold lines 306 extend along the folding groove 308 formed in the unnotched web of the member 56, as shown in FIG. 23.

These miter notches 304 are provided by one or more miter means 58. I

Each miter means 58 includes a pair of vertical walls 310 provided at their lower regions with sleeves 312 also guided by the bars 222. At their upper left comers, as viewed in FIG. 19, the walls 310 have upwardly inclined extensions 314 interconnected by a top wall 316. The vertical walls 310 are respectively formed with openings 318 through which the corrugated structure 44 can freely pass in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 19. Forthis purpose an elongated guide channel 320 is carried by the pair of walls 310 of each miter means 58 extending between these walls and having the V-shaped cross section most clearly apparent from FIG. 19. However, the right web of the guide channel 320 is supported on a suitable block 322 and is formed with a triangular opening aligned with a triangular opening of the block 322 and through which a mitering punch is adapted to pass, as is apparent from a comparison of FIGS. 19 and 20. i

The mitering punch 324 is fixed to a plate 326 carried by the lower end of an inclined piston rod 328 connected to a piston within the fluid-pressure assembly 330 which is actuated simultaneously with the other fluid-pressure assemblies 250 and 258. The fluidpressure assembly 330 is substantially identical with the other fluid-pressure assemblies.

Referring to FIG. 15, it will be seen that the output shaft 290 of the transmission 282 also carries a second cam disc 332 provided with a cam lobe 334 which will actuate a microswitch 336 to deliver a pulse of air under pressure to the fluid-pressure means 330 simultaneously with the delivery of the pulse of air under pressure to the other fluid-pressure means, so that the punch 324 will be driven down through one of the webs of the angle structure 44 to provide the latter with the notch 304.

The block 322 carries a pair of guide rods 338 which extends slidably through guide openings formed in the plate 326 which is in turn connected to the piston rod 328.

The end of the substantially triangular plate 326 which is distant from the guide rods 338 carries a scoring member 340 which during the downward driving of the punch 324 slides along the other unnotched web of the structure 44 to provide it with the scoring groove 308 shown in FIG. 23. This action is illustrated particularly in FIG. 22.

As is shown most clearly in FIGS. 16 and 17, an elongated rod 342 of square cross section is fixed to and extends horizontally rearwardly from the bar 252. The walls 310 of each miter means 58 fixedly carry plates 344 formed with openings through which the rod 342 freely passes, and these plates have set screws 346 by means of which the miter means 58 can be fixed to the rod 342 at a selected location therealong. For this purpose the rod 342 is provided with graduations 348, and a suitable supporting structure extending between the walls 310 carries a pointer 350 which coacts with the scale 348. In this way it is possible to adjust the distance between each miter means 58 and the cutting means 54, and it is also possible to adjust the distance between a pair of miter means 58 such as those shown in FIG. 1. When the set screws 346 (FIG. 19) are tightened, the miter means will be constrained to move with the rod 342 which in turn is constrained to move with the carriage 226, 228, so that when the pin or finger 260 engages the chain 262, the miter means as well as the cutting means will move together with the work, so that there is no relative movement between the work 44 and the miter punches 324 during punching of the miter notches 304. The fluid-pressure means 330 also may be provided, for example, with return springs which return the parts to their initial positions when the force of the fluid under pressure is released. For this purpose each piston of each fluid-pressure means, after having been driven by the pulse of compressed air through a given stroke can uncover a suitable discharge port or can actuate a release valve which releases the pressure within the cylinder so that a return spring can expand to return the piston up to its initial position.

SUMMARY It will thus be seen that with the above-described method of the invention, the work is in continuous movement, continuously being fed to the gluing means 30 and from the latter to the forming means 42. From the forming means 42 through which the work continuously travels, the work is continuously delivered to the conveying means 52 of the dryer means 48 to be conveyed through the heat tunnel 50. The work is transported continuously through the heat tunnel to be continuously received by the cutting means 54 which can be set to automatically provide reinforcing angle members 56 of predetermined length/In addition, one or more miter means 58 can be provided, in the event that it is desired to have relatively long corrugated angle members which will be bent in the interior of the containers in which articles are to be housed. As may be seen from FIG. 15, it is a simple matter, in the event that it is not desired to use the miter means, to loosen the connection between the cam disc 332 and the shaft 290 so as to shift the cam disc 332 to a location where the cams 334 will not actuate the switch 336, and thus whenever desired it is possible in this simple way to prevent actuation of the miter means. Through the reverse of these operations the miter means can be brought back into play. Of course, it is an equally simple matter to render one or both of the miter means 58 operative.

The bar 342 provides not only a :means for transmitting movement of the cutter carriage to the miter carriages, but also a means for adjusting the location of the miter means with respect to the cutting means.

With the entire installation there is but a single drive means 60 which may be used either to drive only the lower endless assembly of the conveyer means 52 or which may be used to drive both the upper and the lower assembly, and it is simply by the conveying of the work through the tunnel that the work is advanced through the entire installation.

The floating support for the upper conveyer assembly is particularly advantageous because of the possibility of automatically adapting the structure in this way to work of different thicknesses.

In this latter connection it is to be noted that the upper right sprocket 302 of FIG. 2 can be guided for movement horizontally to the right and left, as viewed in FIG. 2, and can be acted upon by a suitable spring so as to be urged to the right, as viewed in FIG. 2. In

this way the chain 298 will be maintained under suitable tension irrespective of the particular elevation of the upper endless assembly 172.

Of course, the application of wax to the uppermost corrugated ply A is optional. This wax can be Tufflex or any desired type of cellulose fiber material in order to be non-abrasive in character. In effect, such cellulose fiber material acts as a non-abrasive cushioning.

Although all of the components of the installation of the invention can be made of any desired sizes, the heat tunnel is relatively long so as to apply the requisite heat while pressure is applied to the work material by the conveyer means. The quartz lamps in the heat tunnel will provide the requisite drying with respect to the particular glue which is used. The particular glue which is used is preferably silicate, so that it will be reliably dried and set in the heat tunnel while at the same time remaining in its unsolidified condition during forming of the plies by the forming means 42.

It is to be noted that with the gluing means 30 the glue is maintained in continuous movement from one container to the next lower container so that the fluid condition of the glue is assured and there are no parts of the glue which can undesirably form stationary localized bodies of glue.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method for manufacturing a corrugated angle member, the steps of gluing together a plurality of corrugated plies which are initially flat and unscored, in their glued-together condition, to provide the member with a preselected thickness, then, before the glue has dried and set and while the plies remain unscored, longitudinally angling the glued-together plies to a gradually increasing extent until the plies have a preselected angular cross section, then drying the glue to set the latter with the plies remaining in their angled condition, and finally cutting the joined, angled plies, after the glue has dried and set, to preselected lengths, said steps being carried out one after the other without interruption in a fully continuous manner, so that the plies are in continuous movement from the time that they are glued together until the predetermined lengths are cut.

2. In a method as recited in claim 1 and wherein the cutting of the angled plies is carried out without relative movement between the angled plies and the structure which cuts therethrough.

3. In a method as recited in claim 1 and wherein the angled plies have a pair of webs which are situated at a predetermined angle with respect to each other, and including the step of forming a miter notch in one of said webs.

4. In a method as recited in claim 3 and wherein the miter notch is punched through said one web. 

1. In a method for manufacturing a corrugated angle member, the steps of gluing together a plurality of corrugated plies which are initially flat and unscored, in their glued-together condition, to provide the member with a preselected thickness, then, before the glue has dried and set and while the plies remain unscored, longitudinally angling the glued-together plies to a gradually increasing extent until the plies have a preselected angular cross section, then drying the glue to set the latter with the plies remaining in their angled condition, and finally cutting the joined, angled plies, after the glue has dried and set, to preselected lengths, said steps being carried out one after the other without interruption in a fully continuous manner, so that the plies are in continuous movement from the time that they are glued together until the predetermined lengths are cut.
 2. In a method as recited in claim 1 and wherein the cutting of the angled plies is carried out without relative movement between the angled plies and the structure which cuts therethrough.
 3. In a method as recited in claim 1 and wherein the angled plies have a pair of webs which are situated at a predetermined angle with respect to each other, and including the step of forming a miter notch in one of said webs.
 4. In a method as recited in claim 3 and wherein the miter notch is punched through said one web. 